Swarens: 'I learned that not all people are bad,' young mom at Project Home Indy says

Project Home Indy helps teen mothers learn to care for themselves and their children. Support this charity through the IndyStar's link to the Season for Sharing program.
Dwight Adams, dwight.adams@indystar.com

The honeymoon ended abruptly for Marguerita Moore on her first night at Project Home Indy. At dinner, her young son Isaiah threw a taco at a staff member.

Only 17 herself, but with years of hard times behind her, Marguerita braced for an angry reaction.

Instead, she learned a valuable lesson about what it means to be a family.

"That night everybody fell in love with him, " Marguerita said four years later as we chatted on a sofa at Project Home Indy. "He felt comfortable and the staff wasn't negative about it. They said, 'It's OK. He doesn't know better, but he's cute. We like him.'"

In the 18 months she and her son lived in Project Home Indy's near north side house, Marguerita learned many essential skills on how to be a mother and how to take care of herself. She also earned her diploma from Ben Davis High School.

But perhaps the most essential lesson was planted deep in her heart that first night. Because of a flying taco. Because of a stranger's gentle reaction to a child's bad behavior.

"I learned to trust people. I learned that not all people are bad," Marguerita said. "I initially was about to get on him, but the staff handled it My trust just wasn't there with people based on my past."

Since 2011, Project Home Indy has provided a safe environment for 42 young moms like Marguerita to live and to learn essential parenting and life skills.

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Lakshmi Hasanadka, co-founder and executive director of Project Home Indy, poses for a portrait inside the home that provides housing and life skills training for young at-risk mothers on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018. (Photo: Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar)

Executive director Lakshmi Hasanadka said many of the teen-age mothers have endured abuse, neglect, poverty and even human trafficking before they arrive at the home.

"These are girls who've experienced very ugly things from a young age," Hasanadka, an attorney before she joined Project Home Indy, said.

Breaking the cycles of abuse and poverty is a primary goal at the home, where the moms meet regularly with therapists and are surrounded by staff trained in how to resolve conflicts.

Hasanadka said that rebuilding the mothers' self-esteem also is a critical goal. "We're teaching her that she's worth it," Hasanadka said.

Today, Marguerita speaks with optimism about her children's future (her daughter Violet is 1-year-old) and her own. And she's thankful for the opportunity Project Home Indy continues to give her.

"Once you graduate from the program, they're always there," she says. "I can pick up the phone and say, 'Hey, can you remind me how to open a bank account? Can I come use a computer to look up a recipe?' It's always a resource to come to like a home, like a true home."

Contact Swarens at tim.swarens@indystar.com; friend him on Facebook at Tim Swarens; follow him on Twitter @tswarens.

Season for Sharing

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